It was a punch-the-air moment in Avengers: Endgame when Steve Rogers proved himself worthy of wielding Thor‘s hammer, but the comics are set to explore the ramifications of ordinary humans being capable of lifting Mjolnir as well and claiming its power for themselves.
The events of the MCU pushed Thor to his limit, seeing him lose his family, his weapon, his home, his throne, over half of his people and most of his self-respect, but the comics incarnation isn’t having much of an easier time of it. After battling the planet-devouring Galactus and universe-devouring Black Winter, he was shown a vision of the future where Thanos wields Mjolnir imbued with the power of the Infinity Stones and leads an army of zombified heroes in thrall to his command.
In Thor Vol 6 #7, beginning the new “Hammerfall” arc, the God of Thunder decides to stop ignoring the sense he’s developed of there something being “broken” within the magical warhammer. To test a theory, he sends Mjolnir to Broxton, Oklahoma with its inscription now simply reading “pick it up,” which is obeyed by mechanic and former convict Adam Aziz. Aziz promptly transforms into a huge and muscular version of himself outfitted in Asgardian clothing, just as shocked as the crowd of onlookers (which includes Tony Stark) are about what he’s able to do.
Of course, Aziz is far from the first character other than Thor to have lifted Mjolnir, with other wielders including Beta Ray Bill, Hulk, Captain America, Jane Foster, Thunderstrike, Magneto and Volstagg. However, his being an insignificant human is a key plot point and will be explored as the story progresses in the coming months.
It’s still unclear, though, what the current criteria are for lifting Mjolnir. It may be that Aziz, being the first to grab the hammer, is now the only one able to wield it. Alternatively, anyone might be eligible if they’ve been a resident of Broxton for long enough, it being the former location of New Asgard. There’s also the possibility that any human can now take on the powers of Thor regardless of whether or not they are worthy of them, which will make a target of whomever is in possession of it and lead to chaos, destruction and associated repercussions, least of all an enraged Stark demanding Thor fix his problem that he’s now made everybody else’s.
